The Sand Rod raises a wall of sand in the direction Link fires it; depending on its height, Link can walk across or merge with this wall. In addition to being the key to cross the desert, this can also reveal things buried in the sands, like a couple Maiamais en route to the dungeon. (The Maiamai in Kakariko Village I had no idea about is also buried in a sandbox. Also, if a Geldman gets caught in the line of fire, it’s lifted out of the sand, revealing its lower body to resemble a muscular man wearing a red Speedo who scurries away in embarrassment.) There’s also a heart piece along the way before Link enters the Desert Palace.
Of course, the Sand Rod is the key item for the dungeon, used to create walls and bridges, raise objects up to higher levels, uncover buried treasure chests, and pull enemies out of the sand so Link can attack them. There are several puzzles of activating sand flows to fill rooms with sand. Like the other Lorule dungeons, there’s also a treasure item in this dungeon: the Titan’s Mitt; as it’s required to progress through the dungeon, it’s less hidden than the chests with Master Ore. Like the Desert Palace in A Link to the Past, there are two discrete sections to this dungeon, and getting the Titan’s Mitt allows Link to exit one and advance to the other. I took this as a cue to suspend the dungeon crawl and go exploring with the Titan’s Mitt, although if I’d waited one room into the second half of the dungeon, there would have been a miniboss fight that opens a portal and I could have saved myself some trouble getting back. Ah, well.
The rest of the missing Maiamais are all buried under large rocks [1]. Link returns the Maiamais to Mother, who upgrades the Sand Rod so that its walls last indefinitely (until Link uses the rod again or leaves the screen), then since Link’s out of items to upgrade, the final reward for collecting all the Maiamais is an upgrade Spin Attack. (Upgrading the Spin Attack is done more or less the same as upgrading items: Mother Maiamai snorts Link up her nose and spits him out.) The Titan’s Mitt can open Lorule’s mirror of the passage from the graveyard to Sanctuary; at the end of the passage, Link finds the last bit of Master Ore he needs to have his sword upgraded to the Golden Sword/Lvl 3 Master Sword. There’s also a heart piece in a cave near the Hyrulean blacksmith Link can get now.
As hinted above, the second half of the dungeon starts with a miniboss fight in two phases. First, there’s a spinning tile trap; once it’s clear, two Develants pop up. This dungeon stands out for being the first to put Beamos to positive use: there are two puzzles where Link has to raise a Beamos up to shoot switches with its beam. After making it through the dungeon, Link exits to the overworld where there’s another fissure to Lorule. Through this fissure, Link fights the dungeon boss, Zaganaga, a giant cactus monster. The area is filled with sand and there are several pillars throughout, so Link has to use the Sand Rod to create walkways to get close enough to Zaganaga to attack. The Nice Sand Rod is definitely a bonus here; no need to worry about the walkways disappearing. Once Zaganaga’s gone, a wall slides away, and the sand behind the wall flows out filling the arena, allowing Link to rescue Irene.
At this point, I figured I was ready enough to tackle the Advanced course of the Treacherous Tower. This is very much like the Savage Labyrinth and Cave of Ordeals; fifty floors, with breaks every ten. Many of the upper levels have icy floors, and some are dark unless Link has his Lamp equipped. For the most part, it wasn’t so bad; the Tornado Rod neutralizes most enemies, and the Great Spin Attack is tremendously effective. Even the floors with multiple Lynels were easy to manage because there were gaps Link could knock the Lynels off into. Honestly, the worst floor had a crapton of Hardhat Beetles and Buzz Blobs. The final boss is a Moldorm (which the burger comparison is less fun with because it’s turned purple). The reward for completion is… this is where the lamp can become the Super Lamp. If Link does it again (on the Devilish Girl’s hint), he’ll get the Super Net. These items aren’t anything spectacular, but they’re required for StreetPass challenges, so, yay that.
Next: Say what you like, when they all turn to ice, it’s the fire that you’re gonna want [2].
[1] In a definite improvement in sense from A Link to the Past, the visual difference between rocks Link can lift with the Power Glove and rocks that require the Titan’s Mitt to lift is purely one of size, rather than the latter being darker to indicate they’re super-dense or something.
[2] I did not expect to have to dig this deep to come up with enough fire/ice quotes.
